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2011 Top DC Characters #14-12

After nearly 1,400 ballots were cast, YOU the reader ranked your favorite comic book characters of all-time from 1-10. I assigned point totals to each ranking and then tabulated it all into a Top 50 list. We’re now revealing that list throughout September. Here is the master list of all the characters revealed so far. The countdown continues…

14. Robin – 1011 points (6 first place votes)

Damian Wayne is the offspring of a dalliance between Bruce “Batman” Wayne and Talia “Daughter of the Demon” Al Ghul. He spent his youth gestating in a laboratory. His mother then had him trained by the League of Assassins before then seeking out his father. The two clash over Damian’s violent methods, but Bruce clearly cares for his son so tries to train him to overcome his violent past. When Bruce was seemingly killed, Dick Grayson took over as Batman, with Damian becoming the new Robin. During his time with Dick, Damian began to see the value of being a good guy, even choosing to spurn his mother’s attempts to return Damian to the League of Assassins fold. After Bruce’s return as Batman, he felt that Damian should remain a team with Dick. After Dick decided to step down as Batman, though, Bruce took on Damian’s training.

The pair now work together as Batman and Robin, but Batman has to always watch out to make sure that Damian has risen above his assassin heritage.

13. Booster Gold– 1100 points (20 first place votes)

Created by Dan Jurgens, Michael Jon Carter was living a dead-end life in the future when he decided to steal some artifacts from a museum he was working at and travel back in time to the 20th century to become a superhero.

Using the artifacts, Carter fashioned himself a superhero suit, complete with a force field, flight and laser beams. Originally meaning to name himself Goldstar, he accidentally answered his nickname Booster (from when he played football) and while trying to change it to Goldstar, instead got tagged with the name Booster Gold.

Booster was obsessed with wealth and fame, using his superhero powers to make him money.

He eventually joined Justice League International, where he became good friends with Ted Kord, the Blue Beetle. The two men had a number of money-making schemes. Years after their League disbanded, Ted was investigating some bad events. Booster went to help his friend, but he was incapacitated and so was unable to be there when his friend, Ted, was murdered by Maxwell Lord, a man that Ted and Booster thought was their friend (and the organizer of Justice League International).

Booster recovered from this tragic loss to begin an arrangement with the time-traveling Rip Hunter to basically save the entire multiverse. Booster was now tasked with becoming a watchdog over famous superheroes, traveling through time to make sure that no bad guys kill heroes before they BECOME heroes. To do so, Booster must remain anonymous, so no one will know what he is doing (and thereby draw attention to it). As a result, Booster Gold – the man who loves fame, could tell no one that he was one of the greatest heroes on Earth.

After the DC reboot, Booster is now the leader of a new version of Justice League International.

12. Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner) – 1213 points (32 first place votes)

Kyle Rayner, created by Ron Marz and Daryl Banks, was just an average struggling Los Angeles artist when a strange little man came up to him outside a bar and gave him one of the most powerful weapons in the whole universe.

For quite a time, Kyle was the last Green Lantern in the universe, given the responsibility to carry on for the entire Green Lantern Corps legacy. Kyle soon found that being a hero came with a price, as his girlfriend was murdered by a government agent looking for Kyle’s power source.

In fact, Kyle has had three notable girlfriends, all of whom have been killed at one point. Luckily, two of them have since returned to life.

Kyle soon got the hang of being a superhero, joining the Titans and then the Justice League of America, where he served with distinction.

When the Green Lantern Corps were finally reborn, Kyle was honored as being the torchbearer for the Corps. He was also given a NEW responsibility, the “Ion” power. Kyle eventually returned to the Corps as a regular member (albeit as a member of the “Honor Guard” of especially awesome Green Lanterns).

Kyle will be having a new responsibility in the upcoming New Guardians series, as Kyle has to lead a team of members of all the different colored corps. This is his most prominent role in quite awhile.